TITLE:
Evaluation of Fear and Peritraumatic Distress during COVID-19 Pandemic in Brazil
AUTHORS:
Alberto Abad, Juliana Almeida da Silva, Lucas Emmanuel Pedro de Paiva Teixeira, Mayra Antonelli-Ponti, Sandra Bastos, Cláudia Helena Cerqueira Mármora, Luis Antonio Monteiro Campos, Scheila Paiva, Renato Leonardo de Freitas, José Aparecido da Silva
KEYWORDS:
Mental Health, Fear, Peri-Traumatic Stress, COVID-19, Pandemic, Brazil
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Infectious Diseases,
Vol.10 No.3,
September
14,
2020
ABSTRACT: COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread exponentially worldwide, especially in America. At the end of August 2020, Brazil is one of the most affected countries with more than three and a half million cases and up to 114,250 deaths. This study aims to assess the fear and peri-traumatic stress during the COVID-19 pandemics in Brazil, to enhance infection control methods, appropriate interventions, and public health policies. A cross-sectional survey has been conducted from April 12th to 18th using the Peri-Traumatic Distress Scale (CPDI) and the Fear Scale (FCV-19S) aiming to measure the peri-traumatic stress and fear as psychological reactions during the COVID-19 pandemic. For that purpose, an online spreadsheet was used to send the questionnaire and scales to a sample of 1844 participants as a collecting information tool. Significant positive relationship (r = 0.660, p